engagement

From French engagement.

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈɡeɪd͡ʒ.mənt/
• Hyphenation: en‧gage‧ment

• Audio (US):

  (file)

engagement (countable and uncountable, plural engagements)

1. (countable) An appointment, especially to speak or perform.

   The lecturer has three speaking engagements this week.

   prior engagement

   a future engagement

2. (countable, uncountable) Connection or attachment.

   Check the gears for full engagement before turning the handle.

3. (uncountable, by extension, about human emotional state) The feeling of being compelled, drawn in, connected to what is happening, interested in what will happen next.^[1]
   • 2012, James Price Dillard, Lijiang Shen, The SAGE Handbook of Persuasion: Developments in Theory and Practice:

     In a recent study with a movie recommendation site […] , higher message interactivity in the form of footprints of user actions, responsive suggestions in a search box, and live-chatting with an online agent led to greater perceived contingency and engagement with the site, which ultimately created more positive attitudes toward it and higher intention to recommend the site to others.

   • 2025 June 13, Kashmir Hill, “They Asked ChatGPT Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     Mr. Yudkowsky said OpenAI might have primed ChatGPT to entertain the delusions of users by optimizing its chatbot for “engagement” — creating conversations that keep a user hooked.

4. (countable, uncountable) The period of time when marriage is planned or promised.

   We are enjoying a long engagement, but haven't yet set a date.

5. (countable, uncountable) In any situation of conflict, an actual instance of active hostilities.

   The engagement resulted in many casualties.

6. (fencing, countable) The point at which the fencers are close enough to join blades, or to make an effective attack during an encounter.

   After engagement it quickly became clear which of the fencers was going to prevail.

7. (Internet, countable) A performance metric representing an instance where a user interacts with some content after an impression.
   1. (uncountable) The quantitative response to a piece of content; attention.
      • 2021 September 3, Sean O'Kane, “New study will show misinformation on Facebook gets way more engagement than news”, in The Verge‎^[3]:

        A new peer-reviewed study from researchers at New York University and the Université Grenoble Alpes in France will show that misinformation got six times as much engagement on Facebook as real news, The Washington Post reports.

• commitment
• action

• apathy
• disengagement

From French engagement.

engagement n (singular definite engagementet, plural indefinite engagementer)

1. involvement, participation
2. time-limited employment

• “engagement” in Den Danske Ordbog

From engager (“to commit”) +‎ -ment.

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ.mɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

engagement m (plural engagements)

1. commitment
2. engagement

• “engagement”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

engagement m (plural engagements)

1. (Jersey) engagement